I hallow the world's shining birth
Being devout to bliss and love
Since the engendering of earth.
I am a palmer seeking grove.
My veins are dry, the strand’s in drought.
No fowls, no roots to prick and eat,
And all the landscapes are like slough.
The land’s a heath, the shire’s in heat.
But as I fall in dust and lay,
I hardly see a hostelry,
And noble faces in array
Are laughing gaily watching me.
Sundry ' apparels richly adorned,
How can you laugh when you see not?
(12.06.1999)